Blue Devils Hater No More

[idontwan2know]

Technically, yeah, it's a resolution, and maybe you're supposed to feel tense after all that dissonance, as some have suggested. So I suppose that it has its intended effect. . . Doesn't mean I still won't be left wanting. When I watch their show, I immediately have to go watch a show that's played heavily in major keys and is riddled with long, happy, blasstisimo chords, just to balance my brain out.

Can you name some shows I can reference, so I can catch these allusions? This seems like a really cool concept, actually. I'll admit that the show concept itself really is wonderfully unique, and I don't see it being successfully replicated (much like Star '93).

There's the already mentioned La Suerte segment. The first trumpet duet is either a reference to or a direct lift from the 91 show. There's one of the infamous "stab note" sections that is very similar to one from the 99 show. The body movement the horn players perform into the mirrors on side 1 early on in the show is from the 07 drum solo that caused so much hubbub. The opening pit break has pieces of 99 and 04 in it. There's a "Happy Days" quote in the front ensemble towards the beginning of the show. When they compress the spiral after the first hit into the mirrors, there's a triplet feeling measure that is very reminiscent of something from 2001. The fugue-ish section before the big percussion break has serious similarities to the bluesy section before Take the A Train from 04. Etc. etc. They're all over the place. Even the low synth at the end of the show...it's a mirror image of the screaming sop hangover that usually ends a BD show.

Very little of it is smack you in the face obvious. They're layered in exceedingly well, and rarely go on for more than a measure...it's not supposed to be a greatest hits compilation. But they should give you an eerie "I've heard this before but I don't know where" feeling.

Edited August 11, 2010 by idontwan2know

[Big Bad Bari]

Like the old rule for movies: If you introduce a prop, you MUST use it at some point.

Maybe I am not reading all that brought you up to this point... Are you saying that the opening statement where there appear to be 80 guard members (BD's show this year) due to the mirror images that the prop has not been used?

Very Confusing!

[saxfreq1128]

IMO, the possibilities with guard are more than any other section in the drum corps. They could be tossing whatever and since drum corps is so visual these days, I think it is just natural that this area would lend itself to the most striking changes. I think if Star would have stuck around, the guards today would look quite different. I think Star's 1993 guard book is the most unique I have ever seen. There! A Star 1993 reference. LOL

And it probably goes without saying -- and is likely not a coincidence -- that there are some key similarities between Star 93's guard and BD's guard this year, in terms of the kind of equipment used, responsibilities for handling props or unconventional artillery, and the distinct nature of the work's musicality.

As for whether big changes for color guard remain... we shall see. I would say that color guard and percussion are already riding out their big changes

[idontwan2know]

Wow...that is weird. That is exactly how the show was described to me by the folks that designed it in the beginning of the season.! Once I viewed it after learning that, the entire production changed for me.....

G

Good to know I'm on the right track! It's easy sometimes to read things into a show like this one that aren't there.

Agree totally that recognizing the concept totally changed my perception of the show. Saw it two or three times before I "got it" and while I didn't hate it, it just seemed random and boring. Once the light bulb clicked on as to what they're doing, it was a complete turnaround and I'm a huge fan of the show.

Still hope for more from the ending, though.

[bluecoats88]

what I got from the show was that it is a distortion of reality, hence the mirrors and the reversed images. even the famous shadow on the ground effect during the bari solo.

I did love the opening move where the guard is dancing in front of the mirrors and when they run past the end the horn line comes out from behind 'mirroring' their dance moves. That was a great effect.

Edited August 11, 2010 by bluecoats88

[buc-aroo]

Thanks to Alan Mundy's post earlier, I will now have a better idea of what to look for/listen to when I see BD's show (for the first and only time this season) at the quarterfinals theater broadcast tomorrow. I've been a BD fan for many years... so I will probably be able to pick up on at least some of the "hints from the past."

So thank you, Alan!!!!

I do wonder, though.....and no offense at all meant to BD, who do what they do extremely well and have done so for decades.... but how many people want to have to think that much about what is going on, when they watch a drum corps performance?

I mean, it's drum corps. It's not high art. It's not the symphony. It is, at its heart, an amateur marching music idiom. (And by "amateur" I do not mean "amateurish.")

And to a decent degree, its goal is (or should be) to get as many people as possible into the seats to watch a show. Paying customers pay the bills. Including, perhaps, the "great unwashed" who simply might want to enjoy what they see without having to explore the "deeper meaning" of a given performance.

I loved the show when I saw them in Fairfax. My three kids were completely awestruck. Did we get the symbolism? Nope, but I don't think you need to get the depth to enjoy it. I loved the chaos and the speed and the visual effects and when it was over, I wanted them to perform it twenty more times. I have no musical education and I still enjoyed the music. It all just hit me in the face and blew my mind. I would probably like it more if I knew what all the meanings were, just as I liked "Constantly Risking Absurdity" far more when I had read the poem on which it was based. But, even without that depth of knowledge, it was my favorite show I have seen from them, or any corps, in many years. And my seven year old is still talking about how cool it was too.

[Jim Allen]

I loved the show when I saw them in Fairfax. My three kids were completely awestruck. Did we get the symbolism? Nope, but I don't think you need to get the depth to enjoy it. I loved the chaos and the speed and the visual effects and when it was over, I wanted them to perform it twenty more times. I have no musical education and I still enjoyed the music. It all just hit me in the face and blew my mind. I would probably like it more if I knew what all the meanings were, just as I liked "Constantly Risking Absurdity" far more when I had read the poem on which it was based. But, even without that depth of knowledge, it was my favorite show I have seen from them, or any corps, in many years. And my seven year old is still talking about how cool it was too.

Amen, brother.

[WOOHOO]

Maybe I am not reading all that brought you up to this point... Are you saying that the opening statement where there appear to be 80 guard members (BD's show this year) due to the mirror images that the prop has not been used?

Very Confusing!

He was talking about other corps, not BD

[BDCorno]

I interpret everything about the show, but especially the musical book, as a twisted or negative image of a standard BD production. It's like they're taking a normal Blue Devils production, holding it up to a distorted mirror and showing you the result. If you listen closely, and are a big enough BD fan, you will begin to recognize bits and pieces of previous BD shows, but played with weird harmonies or distorted rhythms. Every time I watch it again, I catch another one, and I'm sure there are some I'm missing.

Case in point is the La Suerte section in the beginning. It's played straight when they're facing forward, but as soon as they turn back to face the mirrors everything starts to go weird harmonically.

To me, the big similarity between Star 93 and BD 2010 is that they both explore emotions and moods that you're just not used to drum corps attempting to portray. Drum corps tend to stick to relatively simple, easy to grasp emotions and moods: happy, sad, funny, angry, etc. The vibe of both Star 93 and BD 2010 is much stranger and darker and frankly, unpleasant. I think all the people who find themselves angry, discontent, creeped out, etc. at the end of the show are failing to realize that that is EXACTLY what the show is supposed to make them feel. It's kind of like the drum corps equivalent of a Darren Aronofsky movie.

You can go even deeper into it from an intellectual standpoint and see the way they're playing with the idea of obsessive introspection leading to madness in the way the performers sometimes watch themselves in the mirrors rather than performing to the audience, etc. but I don't think that's necessary to enjoy the show.

Very nice description/deciphering of the show concept. I'd like to expand on that if I could...

I believe what hangs a lot of people up is the focus on the "prop" and the limitations/expectations they place upon the mirrors. I've seen a lot of statements that address GE as something that the judge or viewer should "let come to them". I'd encourage the doubters to do exactly that...remove the negative hangups you may have with BD's show and simply take it in. The show theme is "Through a Glass, Darkly", not "Into a Mirror". Those who self-limit their ability to take in and understand the way BD uses the music and the mirrors (think WINDOW, not mirror) deprive themselves of the effects intended. Please watch the following three clips and change your mindset:

http://bit.ly/b7qN1H

Notice the similarity among these three clips, and frame the show in those terms as you watch it next time. Didn't really make the Twilight Zone or Outer Limits connection until recently (and a lot of the younger crowd still may not relate), but it's a metaphor for the approach this season. Hopefully many of you will see it live, because video really doesn't capture the visual as well as you would in person. The dimensionality reflected through the mirrors evokes somewhat of a parallel dimension in which past corps from BD history exist. The mirrors are actually looking glasses and/or doors into the other dimension, and allow the crowd to see the present (on the field), past (through the "windows") and future (new concept show design) co-mingling in front of your eyes. The way the props are used gives the impression of the members (and perhaps those from the other side) being able to move in and out of these dimensions at will.

As Alan pointed out, at times the performers see their reflections in an obsessive introspection...is it a reflection of them in the present, or is there a past/parallel version of them through that glass? This gives the viewer a choice as well. What is it exactly that they are seeing? I find it most fascinating that there are different levels of musical and visual dissonance on display at any given time. Even the last push of the show comes from chaotic roots and resolves to harmonious musical and visual. Just when you think it's going to stay that way, the "darkness" creeps back in musically, a struggle between two pieces of music. Visually it compresses and corrals all that is going on, resolving in a short, furious and harmonious finish.

For me, it's a story of tradition, history, evolution of the activity and breaking through those barriers to the future. Effect? Like it or not, the show has generated mass quantities of discussion around the activity. I'd say it's been generally effective in that sense. I don't see a problem challenging the viewer. Variety is the spice of life, and drum corps absent variety would be a bore. Those who anguish that a sea of drum corps lemmings will plunge over a cliff - offering only dark, edgy programs that don't "entertain", are a little paranoid. If nothing else, this show pushes the envelope and allows room for others to grow creatively with their programs. Instinctively, most groups will gravitate toward the harmonious and accessible...controversial shows will continue to be the exception rather than the rule. I very much hope that the activity is not corralled into a tightly controlled, "vanilla" approach when it comes to show design. I'm concerned it's a lot like that in terms of performance now! Without freeing designers and performers artistically, a "safe" or "crowd pleasing" mandate will neither be safe for DCI's health, nor pleasing to the masses. Hope this answers some questions, sheds light or spurs some good dialogue.

[N.E. Brigand]

http://bit.ly/b7qN1H

"Design motivated by Concept ... Character ... Sound"!